Water Rights Application and Reservoir System Development

Oregon, USA

Water Rights Applications are complex legal documents used to request a permanent granting of the right to use "waters of the State". In this project in Western Oregon's Willamette Valley, a system of reservoirs was planned to be fed by winter storm runoff and the diversion of an ephemeral creek. The application for the right to divert and store 80 acre feet of water was submitted in December of 2014. Permission to construct the reservoirs was granted by the ODWR in November of 2015.

Challenge: Develop water resources on an unirrigated commercial grass seed farm so it can be transitioned into an irrigated organic farm with mixed cropping systems. 

Solution: Work with the State Water Master, State Fish and Wildlife, Certified Water Rights Examiner, Geotechnical Engineers and excavation contractors to develop a legally acceptable economically viable reservoir storage system to develop a permanent water supply.

Project Lead: Andrew Millison